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“Tortured you?” I ask, a slow smirk stretching across my face as I look down at her. “My plan worked then.”
“Yeah, it was excruciating,” she says, running her hands from my abs, up my chest and around my shoulders to cup my neck, “I already wanted you back then, I just couldn’t have you.”
She pulls on my nape, bringing me closer to her. I bend with a pleased rumble in my chest; hearing her admit she felt the same intoxication for me as I did – as I do – for her is a well placed stroke to the ego.
“You made me wait so long,” I moan, nuzzling her neck.
She giggles at my touch and I pull back from her with an almost drunken step.
“I’ll fuck you on the counter if we continue like this and we both have to be at practice in twenty minutes.”
She pouts and looks at me. “So? It’s a ten minute drive, that’s just enough time.”
“That’s barely enough time for a quickie,” I growl and she laughs at my correction, “and you need to eat.”
I pull out a pan and ingredients from the fridge and set about making her eggs as she watches me. Her phone dings a couple of times, pulling her attention over to it as she starts biting her nails nervously. Finally, she types back a response, her leg kicking out repeatedly as if to get rid of excess energy.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she answers, before hesitating, “I was on the phone with my brother before I came down. He told me my mom relapsed yesterday.”
“Shit,” I pause mid-stir, “Do you need to go back home?”
“No,” she laughs humorlessly. “It’s the fifth time this year. She makes empty promises to me and Nolan and stops for a couple of days to show she’s changed, but it never lasts. Inevitably, she’s back at it within the week.”
My lips flatten as I look at her. “Does it help that at least she’s trying?”
“Not really. Maybe that’s cynical and mean of me,” she adds, the vulnerability clear in her voice, “Maybe I should believe her when she tells me this time she’s done for good, but I don’t. I’ve seen it happen too many times, have seen her take advantage of the money we’ve given her to ‘buy groceries’ or ‘get her new clothes’ only to find out she used it to buy her next fix,” she pauses, taking a sip from my glass as she thinks about her next words. “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt a little every time.”
I plate her eggs and set it down next to her before wrapping my arms around her.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her honestly.
“It’s okay,” she replies, her spine straightening, “Sorry for trauma dumping on you, especially first thing in the morning.”
I wrap my hand around her ponytail and tug it, making her head lean back against my arm.
“Don’t apologize.” I grab the plate and push it in her direction. “Now eat.”
I take a step back and lean against the kitchen island as I watch her eat, warmth spreading in my chest at the domesticity of it all.
???
Phoenix and I walk out of the locker room to go to practice when Devlin corners me in the hallway.
I’m distracted looking down at where Thayer’s pink hair tie is wrapped around my wrist, so I don’t immediately notice him.
It was at the bottom of my kit bag after I’d taken all my clothing out and I’d felt the need to put it on.
“Quite a stunt you pulled last night,” he states, trying to play the big man.
I walk around him without acknowledging him, uninterested in interacting with him in any way.
“She looks like she’d be a good fuck,” he calls after me.
I whip around before he can finish his sentence and slam him against the wall with my forearm crushing his throat.
He opens his mouth to speak but I push down on his throat, squeezing the breath and life out of him.
